昏睡の針と蜘蛛の糸 (Digital remastering)
2013/05/23 (original release 1998)
1. 見世物箱
2. 安楽死
3. 鏡地獄
4. つむぎの糸
5. 十二匹の腐乱犬
6. 瓶詰めの記憶
7. うつろの針
8. 逆回転の針
There exists a strange liminal space between underground visual kei and traditionally dark gothic rock that gives birth to exciting cult music time and time again. Jigokue is one such project that manages to channel the insanity of both these worlds.
Sometimes I still beat myself over the fact that I sold my copy of the "Igyou no utage" omnibus CD. It featured exclusive recordings from some truly amazing angura players, and among them was an ominous-looking trio I had not heard of before called Jigokue. The two songs they provided for the compilation had that special spice that piqued my interest though, so I kept my eyes peeled for any further music from them. It was not an easy journey, but I managed to collect some treasures, including this record.
The bulk of this release was originally a demotape recorded in the summer of 1997 by the two-member core lineup of Jigokue, frontman Rare on vocals/guitars and Doll (later known as Chaos IX) on bass, accompanied by a drum machine. Rare was able to clean up and remaster all the songs wonderfully for the 2013 CD edition, and also added four bonus tracks from around the era of the demo's release in 1998, including my first love from them, the deliciously doom-ridden "Utsuro no hari".
Other than the one already mentioned, it's tough to pinpoint specific highlights as the record works best as a whole experience from start to finish. The scraping distorted guitars and humming bass mixed with the relentless monotony of the programmed drums evoke an atmosphere that is singularly Jigokue-esque. The somewhat repetitive, rudimentary punky riffs and the foreboding vocal melodies can easily put you in a trance-like state, and before you know it, you're swept up in this occult world of sound. If you're looking for something raw, dark and obscure, you must give Jigokue a try at least once.
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